St. Tammany News

For the second time in less than a year, Slidell Mayor Ben Morris vetoed an ordinance that would allow four families living in the Lincoln Heights subdivision to replace their storm-damaged mobile homes with new trailers.

In his veto message to the City Council, which passed the ordinance at its Feb. 12 meeting, Morris called the ordinance "racist." Lincoln Heights is predominately African-American, and Morris said he feels the ordinance gave an advantage of one group of people over another.

"Its negative implications affect a predominately African-American neighborhood and nowhere else in our city," Morris wrote.

District A Councilman Lionel Hicks, who represents Lincoln Heights and co-authored the legislation, shot back Thursday that maybe it is the mayor who is a racist.

"By vetoing it twice, he is the racist," Hicks said.

The ordinance, drafted in 2006 shortly after Hurricane Katrina, was aimed at those mobile home owners who lived in Lincoln Heights. The trailers had been grandfathered in after the council passed a law banning any mobile homes or trailers within city limits. There are only four families in the subdivision that live in mobile homes. After the storm, the city refused to let these residents replace their damaged trailers with new mobile homes.

The ordinance died because of a tie vote in 2006. Hicks brought the bill back before the council in 2007. The ordinance passed but Morris vetoed it, and the council did not have the required six votes to override the mayor.

Undeterred, Hicks, who wanted to get these folks out of FEMA trailers and back into their mobile homes, brought the bill back to council last January.

At the Feb. 12 meeting the council passed the ordinance by a vote of 6-3 with council members Kim Harbison, Wayne Crockett and Bill Borchert voting against it.

Morris has been against the ordinance because it allows a small number of residents to own mobile trailers, while the rest of the city cannot.

Morris has suggested many times that the four families get in contact with Habitat for Humanity or a faith-based charity organization to get homes built for them. The residents have repeatedly said they like living in their trailers and do not want homes built by Habitat for Humanity.

In his veto message, Morris said he was also disappointed in the council's lack of response to his requests. He said he has asked for a list of the mobile home residents for the past year. He claims he still has not received the list.

Morris said he has been willing to talk to the residents at any time, but he wrote in his message, he hasn't been able to meet with them.

"A meeting with me has never been requested," Morris wrote.

In the past, he has said he would like to put these people in homes and has asked them to come to his office to talk about it.

"I have also been met with a stone silence," Morris said.

He claimed that two meetings were set up before Christmas, but Hicks postponed them.

Hicks said he did postpone the meetings because all the residents had left town to visit relatives for the holidays. The issue of the meetings is moot with Hicks.

"I'm just trying to help people. What difference does it make to have the meetings?" Hicks demanded. "We aren't asking for the moon here, just housing."

Morris is also concerned the mobile homes are a safety hazard because they can not stand up to the rigors of hurricanes such as Katrina.

"Many trailers for the most part suffered catastrophic damage and will do so again should we experience another severe storm," Morris wrote.

Hicks has always maintained that it is a moral and not a safety issue, and that all residents of Slidell deserve a decent place to live.

Hicks said he is bringing the ordinance back to the council to override Morris' veto.

City Council Administrator Tom Reeves said the vetoed ordinance will be on the agenda for the March 11 council meeting. Hicks said he is confident he will have the six votes needed for an override.

"I pray and hope we got the votes," Hicks said.